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Friday, December 17, 2010

Socksargen Blogfest 2010

I have not seen so many bloggers in one location until I attended the BlogFest SOCCSKSARGEN 2010 last December 11 in East Asia Royale Hotelin Gensan. And even though I could not remember my first blogpost, I could still remember why I decided to have one. It was therapeutic for me. It helps me stay put and it kills idle time. Needless to say, I blogged about -- ME ME ME. But now my concept of blogging has developed into something bigger than I. And its not only me who is realizing this.

Blogs nowadays do not only contain the author's emo moments. It now speaks of technology, tourism, politics, entertainment and more. Blogs have morphed from personal to business. And why not? Blogs create good networks and thus creates more opportunities. It can even get you a job or make self-employment easier.

It is apparent that across the globe, being online has been a part of many people's lives. We have managed to merge our daily lives with our online personas. We engage in blog-like activities like status updates in our social networking pages and we post photos to share for our online community to see. We get news online, and sometimes, the internet is faster in delivering tidbits of what's happened than the media. Communication has never been so easy and fast...sometimes, it beats real time.

With these things happening, Blogfest Organizer Avel Manansaladid not waste time in coming up with an event that will help existing bloggers in their blogging career. It was also, in a way, for me, a matter of re-organizing my goals and my perspective on why blogging is good for everyone. Avel shared his reason why he blogged and a noble reason it was: He sees blogging as a way to send good news to people abroad about the Philippines and he wanted to help paint a better picture of Mindanao.

Sad but true, a lot of people still think that we live primitively in the south. Their expectations of our way of life here is somewhat short to barbaric -- warring tribes and all. They'd be surprise to know that during the Blogfest Festival, the registration was a breeze and that it was all digital. even the ID's were printed on the spot. A one day blogfest with around ten experts as speakers from different parts of the globe to share their knowledge and expertise.

They were great, they talk of a lot of things-- some I'm familiar with, some are just amazing discoveries. Things that I know, things I've never heard of and things I should remember often. Davao Bloggers' very own Ms. Ria Jose made the opening address and Ms. Janet Toral flew to GenSan from Manila to share her insights about blogging and business, to name a few. But my favorite speaker was Bobby Soriano. He was great at his presentation --Internet Security...and boy! how he made people freeze in their seats when he showed them his hacks of their online activities.

Simply put, the blogfest was a raving success. It was not only informative, it was fun! especially when the-ganda-ever-so-much-queen Orman took the stage and shared that through his blog madaming nagladlad. Shows how powerful some posts have become.

The digital platform has become another world and people are slowly discovering its sweet spots. I've found my space in my blog, others in their social networks and friends...where's yours?